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A site dedicated to discussing a variety of action & martial arts film entertainment. The written and expressive work of the author(s) of Film Combat Syndicate is/are protected by Copyright Law. To send us scoops or share your inquiries, email us at filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com.

The campaign is in full swing for director Jimmy Henderson's new movie, Jailbreak. The most recent teaser offered a meaty whiff of the exciting action to come while the rewarding factor of this latest affair stems from the coming onslaught of screenfighting talent straight from Cambodia and abroad.

Firstly, I'm much more geared toward action star and Oscar-winner Jackie Chan's old school titles, though I can appreciate the aesthetic value in his newer movies given the etymology of his overall filmic vision. He certainly erects it in his latest, Railroad Tigers, loaded with sprightly comedy and colorful characters, and some huge set pieces to boot, though not without a few bumps and thumps.

While Antoine Fuqua’s The Magnificent Seven is a remake of the 1960 film by the same name, I like to think of it as a direct reimagining of its original incarnation of Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai from 1954. It bears noting that Kurosawa is, to this day, still Stephen Spielberg's totemic inspiration behind his every endeavor, which calls to mind the question of how much that influences have made it into those films both thematically and narratively. I would say that the influence manifests like the whimsy of a film student's interaction with the arguments that give sustenance to a story of camaraderie. A story like this one, especially, that arrives on contact with the bold charisma of a gunslinger. I'm calling it; if this sort of Western is an analog to another form of cinematic expression, it would be to anime a la Voltron or Gundam Wing - a case for the benefits of empathy.

Welcome to Dongmakgol helmer Park Kwang-Hyun's latest has a trailer that graces with some thrilling, lively and spectacular imagery. It's the new film, Fabricated City, with Ji Chang-Wook (The Long Way Home) starring as a jobless, expert virtual gamer framed for murder fighting to clear his name.

This month's leaked X-Spatial Media footage from CineAsia of action star Iko Uwais's performance in Liam O'Donnell's upcoming sci-fi thriller, Beyond Skyline is nothing short of a riproaring tease for what could be a delightful thrillride considering the technology on hand. This, accompanied by his upcoming appearance in the 2017 wide release of his current Indonesian theatrical run, Headshot, certainly lends even more appeal to the fans, especially amid the long and winded expectations for a third outing in the electric crime saga, The Raid.

Fans concerned with whether or not actress Carrie Fisher finished her scenes for her slated appearance in the next Star Wars movie which wrapped this past summer, can put their minds at ease. The latest trade news according to The Wrap reports that Fisher will, indeed, reprise her role as Leia, formerly a rebel princess and now an active general of the Resistance against the First Order as seen in last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Looking toward the new year will undoubtedly include the witnessing of some much-deserved hype for the martial arts niche now looking to Cambodia. Thus, with the weeks and days counting their way down to January 31, 2017 pending the release of Jailbreak, we now have our first official poster for the new action comedy from Puprom Entertainment and Kongchak Pictures which you can view in the following album.

Actor Gang Dong-Won is currently enjoying his box office reign along with Lee Byung-Hun and Kim Won-Bin in the new action thriller, Master. As it stands now, the actor is now poised to carry over the momentum into the start of 2017 for his newest gig, Haunted Obsession director No Dong-Seok's Golden Slumber which will release later in the year from CJ Entertainment.

Sources are reporting that South Korea is already poised for some franchise buzz in the coming months with production on-going since this past summer with the new fantasy flick, With God. Designated as a two-parter, the budding film franchise is inspired by a three-phase webcomic by creator Ju Ho-Min, casting actor Cha Tae-Hyun (My New Sassy Girl) as a man who dies must undergo a 49-day period of seven trials to prove himself as a dissident "angel of death" unavoidably meddles in human affairs.

Actor Keanu Reeves's return to the titular role in solo debut helmer Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter 2 looks to be nothing short of ceremonious come February. With this, the obvious reunion affair also lies with that of actor Lawrence Fishburne among the cast of new and returning faces for a sequel that aims to build its way further into the world first hinted in the 2014 hit film.

In the years since I've had my eye on action star Scott Adkins, he's almost never disappointed me as a fan or a critic. That wasn't until Isaac Florentine's The Shepherd in 2008, and with an unceremonious fight finale that paled in comparison to the riproaring sequences of his previous work, including Special Forces in 2003.

2016 has seen its fair share of stumbles for me, particularly in the interview department seeing as how I didn't get to reach as many people as I wanted to. This was one of the grievances I aired in my year four piece from a few weeks ago, and interestingly enough, things still took quite a turn for me following the teaser announcement of a new reel by a stunt performer and martial artist whose career growth now lends him the prominence that I among dozens of others can truly assert that he deserves.

That stated, I was never personally well acquainted with Andy Long until around my first or second year as a writer here at Film Combat Syndicate. However, the work he's amassed and contributed to the genre and the people of his field makes him one of the most sought after people to date for a guy that lives so far away from most others, and it's partly by way of the internet in its evolution for more than twenty years now that his relevance and success keeps him going, havin…

Next summer might have some thrilling Kendo drama going for itself in Japan cinemas from Dias Police: Dirty Yellow Boys helmer Kumakiri Kazuyoshi. For this, we start with the latest teaser for the new film, Mukoku, low in scale whilst still boasting ample quality and substance overall, as well as some intense performances from the cast.

It should be noted that a live-action adaptation of Shueisha's hit manga/anime property, Naruto, is on deck from Lionsgate. A date? Pending. However, this news broke last summer and now it's back in the headlines following updates at a Jump Festa event in Japan last weekend.

Coming into my first year as a writer and learning of certain names and faces, actor, martial artist and stuntman R. Marcos Taylor was one of the first to stand out to me. He's sizeable, standing well over six feet with a muscular, mildly stocky build, but his skillset equals him to many of the talent stunt performers and screenfighters I've written about, and I can attest to this having seen several of his works in addition to stunt and training reels. Point in fact, he was one of the people I put on blast for some work on the Jonathan Liebesman-directed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remake, having tagged a bunch of people on social media - me, wet behind the ears with fandom and just eager to help people out.

Action star Jackie Chan has a ton of films coming out soon; My sentiments on Kung Fu Yoga still stand while I look forward to several of his titles in the coming months, including Railroad Tigers from director Ding Sheng and which certainly speaks to Chan's love for musical comedy, big stunts and silent film lore all from which he takes his cues as a filmmaker.

Welcome to the last Hit List of 2016 before I take my fat butt away from my phone a bit more to enjoy life around me some. Indeed it'll be at home through Christmas and New Year's Eve at least until my cough dissipates...It's not how I wanted to go out this year but... oh well... Wish me luck!

Jason Statham has a checkered past when it comes to action movies. This is a man who has subjected himself to the direction - if we can call it that- of the infamous Uwe Boll (In The Name of The King: A Story With An Already Ridiculous Enough Title That It Didn't Need A Subtitle to Make it Worse), confused the shit out of us as Jake Green in 2005’s Revolver, and still found time in his schedule to make basketball interesting again in 2010 with The Expendables. From the cartoonishness of his survival spree as Chev Chelios in the Crank series to his Bond-on-wheels turn as The Transporter, I would argue in gest that said past and all its turbulent splendor has contributed significantly to the cultivation of that bitchin’ perpetual scowl Statham sports. But I fear he wouldn't appreciate the joke and thus proceed to openly diss superhero movies again. So we’ll skip all that unpleasantness and talk about Mechanic: Resurrection instead.

Cold, bitter winter winds notwithstanding, 2017 will be a warm welcome for moviegoers - undoubtedly including those who prefer something much more grounded in style and tone rather than high-flying superheroics. Director Chad Stahelski is certainly heeding the call in recent years, now well on the way with his solo directorial debut in John Wick: Chapter 2 with actor Keanu Reeves reprising his role from their 2014 Stahelski/Leitch outing.

Did you enjoy Denis Villeneuve's seething 2015 crime thriller, Sicario? Do you love sci-fi, action and noir? Well, then there is no goddamn way you're not paying attention to the latest over at Warner Bros. Pictures and Alcon Entertainment ahead of the release of Blade Runner 2049, following in the footsteps years after the cult-acclaimed 1982 classic.

I sit here at work, writing this and recovering from a cold going three weeks strong while hoping to goodness that this doesn't last through my birthday which is in ANOTHER three weeks. I suppose it's an appropriate finish to an otherwise, and in many ways, awful and inauspicious year - I could probably write out a litany of things to illustrate these sentiments, though I'm not about to. I'm sure there are plenty of blogs and memes out there that can sum this year's misgivings right nicely into one big old #Fuck2016 send-off.

Looking at most shortfilms, many prove to be workable concepts that, if handled with care and granted the right amount of money and production muscle, could turn out to be something of a worthy feat. Most times though, especially with independent filmmakers, achieving that sort of thing with little to no money at all and a small crew with extenuating circumstances in between can ultimately prove to be quite an endeavor, which is exactly what filmmaker Leroy Nguyen endured considering the well-over five years it took to make his feature-length debut, Black Scar Blues, a reality.

Taking cues from German television, NTV got the notion of remaking the 2010 hit series, Last Cop prior to premiering just this past summer with some episodes slated for Hulu. Clearly it's a move that served them well now with movement toward a second series in October and subsequent feature film production from Shochiku, and with one of the show's co-helmers, Inomata Ryuichi, in the director's chair for it May release next year.

The prospects of manga author Sorachi Hideaki's longstanding manga success, Gintama, sure feel pretty exciting these days. A new anime series is on the horizon following a hiatus back in March and since then, we've also had a live-action feature adaptation of the film now headed for a July release.

Marauders helmer Steven C. Miller is back on the big screen this January following his latest crime pic, Arsenal. Formerly titled Philly Fury and with a cast that adds Nicolas Cage opposite Jonathan Schaech, Adrian Grenier and John Cusack, the first trailer for the upcoming Grindstone/Lionsgate release has finally arrived.

Got a formula? Stick to it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Certainly this is how action star Jackie Chan and many of his fans may feel about his movies and I can certainly understand. That said, I can't really say I'm surprised and impressed anymore by a lot of what I see, except for whatever stands out the most in a trailer for any Jackie Chan film.

As always, the prospects still loom for professional fighters looking to get into film and Muay Thai favorite, Buakaw Banchamek has been well on track for such an accomplishment. The Samurai Of Ayothaya co-star and K1 and Muay Thai champion is already in tow for a few film prospects pending with one of them being Wilson Yip's latest, Paradox (formerly Fate).

Not too familiar with longstanding Indian film star Shah Rukh Khan? Well, if you diet regularly on Netflix, your time will come now that the subscription video streaming magnate has officiated a deal with Khan's own Red Chilles Entertainment. The Bollywood star's next action thriller, Raees, is on deck for January 25, while the Netflix rollout of Khan actioners is well underway as of late last month.

Oleg Stepchenko's long-awaited, albeit loose adaptation of Nikolai Gogol's 19th century horror novella, Viy, has seen quite an evolution. And a lengthy one at that with years of production hurdles until it finally released in 2014 in Russia; The film released in the U.S. as Forbidden Empire and as the first of a trilogy at that, a sequel was in tow the following year upon its announcement.

Ask me any day of the week and I'll be the first to tell you that Pierre Morel's Taken is the best of the titular trilogy from EuropaCorp and 20th Century Fox. Thus, in the wake of last year's completion of the film series starring Liam Neeson, news broke later on of a television show in the works.

In the months leading up to the stellar performing release of box office hit, Suicide Squad, it was already being reported that Warner Bros. was well on the way with developing a feature spin-off focusing on a female-centric narrative primed with heroines and villainesses from the DC Universe. Three months later, Suicide Squad, in the weeks proceeding director David Ayer's bold "F**k Marvel" commentary which he eventually recanted, the film went on to gross well over $745 million dollars worldwide, flying in the faces of critics who struck the comic book adaptation with perpetually negative reviews overwhelming some positive ones.

There are definitely a few films coming in 2017 with notable lead characters appearing to share a similar theme. One of them happens to be The Fate Of The Furious over at Universal Pictures and the other, at Paramount Pictures brings us to Michael Bay's Transformers: The Last Knight, which now immerses us in a world more desolate and dystopian, riddled and damaged from battle after battle as seen in the first trailer which premiered last week.

It’s easy to take for granted the golden age of DTV action we live in with filmmakers like Isaac Florentine and John Hyams bringing genuine inspiration to their films. Kill Ratio is a throwback to an earlier era; a time that most of us would like to forget... The DTV dark age of the early 2000s.

Miike Takashi's Dead Or Alive trilogy is one I've been after for a while now and I'm glad that the good folks at Arrow Video are on top of it going into the new year. Two pre-order links are available in the announcement below for the U.S. and U.K. releases which ought to be an easy steal.

Ask anyone up until now if you thought the ever-loyal Toretto family wasn't going to have its share of trials and tribulations, and they'd probably tell you you were up your own ass for even asking that. Well, leave it to A Man Apart and Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray and his band of miscreants at Universal Pictures to turn things upside down for those naysayers who have been in for a huge surprise during the trailer launch on Sunday night for the new film, The Fate Of The Furious which now puts the famed love story between Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) in sheer jeopardy, leaving a lot of people asking a series of WTFs online and such.

Four years in writing here at my blog have seen quite a bit of upscaling for many people that I've covered. English martial artist and stuntman Jean-Paul Ly is certainly someone I haven't left out of my purview in the time since he welcomed me into his social circle, and especially as rewarding as it continues to be through his progression as a stunt and fight coordinator and actor with several credits including Lucy, Jon M. Chu's Now You See Me 2, TV drama Cuckoo, and Colin Emerson's 2015 action short, Dead End.

Set during the Ming dynasty, Su Chao Pin and co-director John Woo's Reign of Assassins splashes onto the screen in the epic bravado of mythos, setting up the history of the Bodhi Kung Fu discipline; a fight system and martial philosophy developed by the powerful Indian Buddhist Monk Bodhi, who, as the legend tells it, went on a sacred exodus 800 years ago from India to China.

Having spawned from online shortfilm success, Puerto Rico's own, actor and martial artist Jose Manuel has landed himself and the good folks over at North Compass quite an accumulating profile over the last several years. For me, it wasn't until the top of 2015 when I began covering Manuel's incredible work as Puerto Rico's answer to Eric Jacobus, and most prolifically since his lead acting debut in the groundbreaking, award-winning 2011 feature actioner, Andres Ramírez's El Testigo.

Plotting the continuing course that lies ahead of the "open road" for The Fast And The Furious franchise hasn't been an easy feat to achieve in the last few years. Thankfully we've seen Universal Pictures deliver on this tenfold in 2015 having endured the trauma of real life tragedy a few years earlier and the production challenges that ensued thereafter for its seventh installation, Furious Seven.

Folks observant of 20th Century Fox's recent efforts to revamp the Apes franchise have been a mostly positive grouping of fans, proven thusly by fresh Rotten Tomato ratings and a box office score of well over $1.1 billion dollars among other factors. It's obviously good news for the studio and good enough that a third be in order to cap off this latest endeavor stemming from director Matt Reeves, here and now with War For The Planet Of The Apes.

I grew pretty fatigued in the months before and after Sony's 2014 attempt at a summer sequel with Marvel wall crawler, Spider-Man, and before I go any further, I still am, sort of. All of the tedious energy it takes to cover comic book movies - from micro updates on images to casting announcements and confirmations is why I largely don't cover comic book movies as much as I'd like to, and especially with all of the developments there were at the time for actor Andrew Garfield's succession into battling the Sinister Six along with the studio's further push for a possible female Spider-man project in the works.

I rarely get a lot of time for television most days. I do, however, try my best not to be too tedious when it comes to shows that get my attention in the best of ways - shows like the Sky/Cinemax series, Strike Back which ended with its fourth season just last summer.

What's a wandering swordsman with a death wish to do when his one and only rival is learned to be dead? This is the question Peter Ho faces in the events that ensue in director Derek Yee's newest wuxia fantasy reprisal, Sword Master, which opens this Friday in select theaters.

Late last year was a real bookmark in my own observance on just how many people in Russia love their viking movies. The teaser for Andrey Kravchuk's Viking delivered a rush of period epic thrills with fans more than enthused online to say the least, and so it's finally time to bring this one all way for its release on December 29.

Animator Yeon Sang-Ho made his live-action debut this with the hit action horror, Train To Busan. The film was a festival favorite during the summer and has since earned the favor of many a critic and moviegoer, in addition to a raft of studios competing for the English-language remake rights in a few months prior to its release.

It's interesting to see how theater technology evolves from time to time, though not everyone shares in that same immersive experience since theaters equipped with that kind of gear are located in select locations around the world, especially Asia, for one. I'm speaking of cinema local where services like Barco Escape and things like 4DX and Screen X are paving the way for moviegoers to engage the cinematic experience even beyond wearing a pair of 3D glasses, only here and now we turn to another new venture unveiled at CineAsia this week in Hong Kong in the form of company X-Spatial's 4D Psychoacoustics.

Director Tsui Hark's latest pairing with The Mermaid helmer, producer Stephen Chow for Journey To The West: Demon Chapter, is currently slated for China release in late January. As for the U.S. and other territories however, the word now is that Sony Pictures has acquired the rights to the new film following the hit success of the 2013 former which starred actor Wen Zhang and actress Shu Qi.

I'm already sold on the new Mo Bros thriller, Headshot, going into the new year. Nonetheless, the film is out now in Indonesia, accompanied by a third, final trailer to help pull in the masses. I love the marketing push for this kind of film and I certainly hope we will see more martial arts films step up to the plate in the same fashion.

It looks as if 2017 will be an otherwise reassuring year for gamers and the prospects of live-action adaptations apart from Warner Bros.'s Mortal Kombat which finally crewed up with a director. Five years in the making with Sega and Hakuhodo DY's Stories International leading the way for a slate of upcoming game adaptations including Shinobi, the company issued an official press release on Monday detailing their advancement on two more titles: Beat 'Em Up fantasy actioners, Altered Beast and Street Of Rage.

Monday has been crazy-packed with news and updates and especially with word of the first teaser trailer for Michael Bay's new movie, Transformers: The Last Knight. Production officially wrapped on Sunday as announced via social media from the director himself who returns to the helm daring to continue the streak of big box office success that now encompasses the current franchise leading up to 2014's Transformers: Age Of Extinction.

Josè Padilha's 2014 Robocop reboot was a flawed endeavor that still had its potential, in my opinion. Beyond that and as far as I'm concerned, the only two films of the three original live-action titles dating back to nearly thirty years ago are the first two films from 1987 and 1990.

So, not sure about the rest of the crew here at Film Combat Syndicate, but I am a big fan of weapon work in fight scenes so I was excited to review Derek Yee's latest, Sword Master, as it's marketed to be an epic sword fantasy revisiting the Shaw Bros classic, Death Duel...and I got more than I bargained for.

Alrighty! In anticipation of an exceptionally busy Christmas, this will be the first of three final installments of The Hit List in 2016. Personally, I look forward to the forthcoming break and on that note I might round up some of my favorite entries of stunt reels and shortfilms in a New Year edition to whet the appetite some. We'll just have to wait and see!

Having only found out just a few months or so after production on Hentai Kamen helmer Fukuda Yuichi had begun production on a live-action adaptation of popular manga/anime property, Gintama, it was then and there that I decided to catch up. Hence, why many of you who might be following me on Instagram have been seeing gobloads of posts about the show, and I cannot reiterate enough just how much fun the show has been for me.

When it comes to all things Fast And Furious, Universal Pictures isn't afraid to go hard on hype. It worked for every film thusfar leading up to last year's explosive +1 billion dollar success and a year and a half later, we're now days away from the first official teaser trailer for the new film, Fast 8.

Whoever made the decision that veteran action director and filmmaker Sakamoto Hurricane Polymar, already looks like an exciting feat that Tokusatsu fans can appreciate and may want to check out by then.

I sat down to Call Of Heroes eager to see the action direction from legendary film star Sammo Hung. And let it be a testament to bloated expectations that about twenty minutes in, I thought I was going to be disappointed. Allow me to explain. It's the thing with wuxia for me, fantasy based martial arts that succeeds or fails like the extremes of a pendulum. It's either choreographed so well that it's awesome, or it reaches the level of standard and, sadly, you are made so uncomfortably aware of wires and post production work that the crew might as well be on camera in the scene. Call Of Heroes threatened, at first, to arrive like the infamous latter.

The 1999 Stephen Sommers-directed The Mummy, and its sequel in 2001 are still two of the most fun and memorable swashbuckling action adventure flicks ever made. Both were award-winning with numerous nominations to their credit preceding the third which faltered, critically, but still managed to garner interest for a fourth film until about four years ago.

Marvel and Netflix are already underway with production on the upcoming series installation of The Defenders. In the meantime, what awaits now is a second season of hit series Luke Cage which premiered on September 30 to rousing approval from fans and critics alike.

There's no mistaking just how much fun director James Gunn's upcoming Marvel sequel, Guardians Of The Galaxy: Vol. 2 is going to be when it releases in May of next year. A second official teaser trailer arrived on Saturday evening and it doesn't fall short on harnessing everything viewers loved about the first film and more!

The first trailer for Nic Mathieu's feature debut, Spectral, arrived a week ahead of its Netflix release. The marketing is pretty minimal here considering all we have is a trailer and maybe one or two images floating online and judging by the footage, I would have thought the push would have been a little heavier.

Keep your eyes glued to social media and YouTube long enough among circles familiar with parkour aficionados and daredevils alike and you're bound to come across some sick, twisted videos that I'll have you holding onto your own seat due to spells of vertigo. I'm talking videos of stunt performers just going around and out on the town, climbing skyscrapers and various scaffolds on buildings up to some dangerous heights and filming themselves and their friends doing some ballsy, wicked things on camera.

Award-winning actor Peter O'Toole passed away in 2013, but that's not stopping his film legacy from keeping him relevant. His final film to date, Salamat Mukhammed-Ali's The Whole World At Our Feet is gearing up for a release early next year from Cleopatra Entertainment under the new title, Diamond Cartel, according to Deadline earlier this week.

Dating back just a few years ago, it's easy to see just how surprising it would be to see someone like former AV star Celine Tran tackle action roles in her transition. Thankfully it hasn't been at all for naught with a small spate of action jewels currently on YouTube, and notably, her latest forthcoming appearance in Jimmy Henderson's new martial arts action comedy, Jailbreak, now packages for a January 31 release in Cambodia next year while other releases remain pending.

I suspect this latest update from The Tracking Board could go either way considering the number of titles in the past year or so that have seen Guiness record-holding action star, honorary Oscar-winning actor Jackie Chan attached to. This one here involves Five Against A Bullet which is reportedly still without a studio after several years in limbo but is growing back its legs no less now that it appears Chan is starring in the film as the first of a hopeful franchise.

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Right about now you're waiting news over any and all pertaining to Chad Stahelski's John Wick: Chapter Three which is still in production. This week, some of the best news to arise now sees word that Tiger Chen, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman have all joined the production starring opposite Keanu Reeves who returns to star.
A few photos have gone viral in recent weeks seeing Chen merely hinting a presence on set but this latest update is official. The three are said to play opposite Keanu Reeves according news over at The Hollywood Reporter with Chen back on set following a starring role in the 2014 kung fu spiritual drama, Man Of Tai Chi.
It's an update worth noting as it hopefully sets up for a larger Hollywood screen presence for all three martial arts stars who've seen their rise in all of the last nine years collectively, including that of Chen whose friendship dates back to production on The Matrix trilogy. Ruhian and Rahman have been earning their claim to…

Well this is spiffy. Who Taffy Edwards is remains a mystery while said individual sits in the directors chair for upcoming independent crime pic, English Dogs. The film is set to arrive sometime this year and has Time Rush actors Byron Gibson (Only God Forgives) and martial arts sensation, action actor Ron Smoorenberg (Asura) leading the cast.
Plot details are nil as things stand, save for what we can extrapolate from the official trailer that premiered on Wednesday in addition to the film's doughty tagline: "There are 340 breeds of Dogs on the Planet but there can only be one Alpha". And that's about all we got to work with along with what the trailer offers in its ambitious British gangster tropes with Thailand as the backdrop, and watching Gibson throwdown along with shots of Smoorenberg in his element on top of chewing some scenery as a crimeboss, which is always welcome.
Check out the trailer below!

The last few years have seen the wheels turn quite a bit for director Jesse Haaja who made history in debuting Finland's first comic book superhero movie, Rendel. Nowadays he's developing other properties including Furrow, but that doesn't necessarily count out prospects for a sequel while genre specialist Raven Banner has anything to say for it.
Such is what includes Jeremy Kay's Screen International report this weekend with word that sales on a sequel to the Finnish superhero hit film have launched at the Cannes market. Producers at Black Lion Pictures and Frozen Flame Pictures are planning an early 2019 shoot on Rendel 2 which has Haaja returning to the helm to follow up the story of a family man previously resurrected from near-death with a brutal, masked alterego to seek revenge in the name of a city crying out for justice against a criminal organization and their pharmaceutical cohorts. “I can’t even describe how excited I am for this,” Haaja said of the ongoing s…

An exasperating wait, no less, for folks like myself who live in the U.S.. Still, it's nice to know that a Blu-Ray/Digital HD release of the new tournament martial arts thriller, Boyka: Undisputed, is well on its way with an August release, while it's even nicer to know that the film's star, actor and martial artist Scott Adkins wants to do a fifth.
He says so at around the 11:40 mark in his latest interview now online following his recent appearance at MCM Expo in London this week to discuss the role and the film as a whole - And not for nothing either as he continues to pound away at fans who enjoy his movies, but insist on stealing them online which will otherwise kill any chance of the film happening before 2030 if we're lucky (my words, not his).
Adkins also shares several new images from his latest, Accident Man, and some gems on Michael Cuesta's American Assassin, working with Tony Jaa on the recently-wrapped ensemble action thriller, Triple Threat, and muc…

With weeks away before cameras roll for upcoming martial arts mobster comedy, Made In Chinatown, we can report that the production will pair director Art Camacho with producer Robert Samuels who will also share the helm as co-director. The news comes roughly one week since Camacho's arrival to the director's chair after replacing another filmmaker who was already attached as the film underwent several months of development.
Camacho and Samuels will direct from a script by executive producer and author Mark V. Wiley that centers on Vinny, a hapless Chinatown resident who, with the help of his sifu and a select few good friends, works to assimilate himself into Italian mob life and gain top-tier status whilst in pursuit of the girl of his dreams. The independent New York City-set action comedy production lands stuntman, world-class wushu stylist and champion Gold medalist, actor Alfred Hsing (Ready Player One, Ip Man 3, Birth Of The Dragon) his first major acting role.
Hungry …

I myself couldn't really get past some of the fan-service that culminates all seemingly ado with the current Kickboxer franchise following the reboot in 2016. I suppose the best part is that Dmitri Logothetis has found a direction to take it in, onward from Vengeance through Redemption and now with the third, Kickboxer: Armageddon. And indeed, that's Alain Moussi in the footage donning a whole new Kurt Sloan we haven't seen before. Brand new look and all!
Other details are officially pending but Logothetis himself has mentioned the possible return of Mike Tyson, Ronadinho and Christopher Lambert in addition to George St. Pierre and other UFC and sports favorites...and Snoop Dogg for some reason? He's also presented a brand new teaser to help stir the fandom some, so check it out anf expect more Kickboxer news onward through 2019.

The May 17, 2019 release of John Wick: Chapter Three pretty much has everyone engaged losing their collective skulls at the moment. Production is already underway and confirming previous rumors of late is actress Halle Berry asserting her place in the cast.
Thus, she'll be joining in with a lot for the film's returning cast members, in addition to a wave of new names totaling actors Laurence Fishburne, Ian McShane and Lance Reddick all reprising their roles, and with actresses Asia Kate Dillon and Anjelica Huston, and actors Mark Dacascos and Jason Mantzoukas to the cast.
The production has released cast cards with the roles all respective to the performers listed for whom Chad Stahelski will direct for Lionsgate for the production's remaining duration. Check it all out below and stay tuned, because I'm ready for more surprises! JOHN WICK 3: PARABELLUM Cast

Events at Cannes have been a turning point for some film fans highly keen on all things ado with action star, Jean-Claude Van Damme. Having made a splash this year with buzz for the launch of his Rodin Entertainment sales banner and announcing another slate of film prospects, his latest offering now brings us a pulsating look at Braqueurs helmer Julien Leclerq's new thriller, Lukas, otherwise hailed in our territories as The Bouncer.Lukas, a nightclub bouncer in his fifties who's taken punches, literally and figuratively, struggles to raise his 8 year old daughter. One day, Lukas loses control during an altercation with a client and ends up in jail, while his daughter gets placed under the care of social services. But things take an unexpected turn when Interpol recruits Lukas to bring down a Dutch ringleader operating from Belgium in exchange for his daughter's custody.
The first official teaser and accommodation poster have both arrived and very befitting with one anoth…

About five years ago I managed to interview stuntwoman, actress and producer Michelle Jubilee Gonzalez. It was through her I managed to build a rapport with several other veterans and up-and-comers in the industry whilst getting an angle going on covering the stunt field and it was a privelege to be able to exchange with her than as it still is now from time to time.

She's a talented singer as well - a fact that I was reminded of clean and clear when last year, I managed to screen one of her most recent short film appearances, Pimpkillah, courtesy of filmmaker and comic book creator Sarah Bitely. I think it quite surprised Michelle and that was sort of the feeling I got when I commented on one of her posts at the time.

Alas, the shortfilm has since gone public, marking a significant milestone for the budding filmmaker and comic book creator who moved from her hometown on the outskirts of DC/Baltimore in Maryland to Los Angeles, California in 2010. Her coming out party has assuredly …

Saban Films has kept its own market waiting long enough it seems and thus, the official trailer went live for Pasha Patriki's latest, Black Water, hailing a fifth pairing for action star duo Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren. The film is written by Chad Law with a story that centers on a deep cover operative who awakens, imprisoned in the confines of a CIA black site on a submarine and forced in a race against the clock to search for answers amidst a daring escape.Action-movie icons Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren deliver a double shot of adrenaline-fueled excitement in this heartpounding undersea thriller. After a failed mission, deep-cover operative Wheeler (Van Damme) is imprisoned in a CIA black site on a submarine. The CIA agents will to go to any lengths to get information from Wheeler—but nothing can prepare them for the storm of violence that erupts when he joins forces with a fellow prisoner (Lundgren) as deadly as he is mysterious. Black Water opens throu…